\Ex`com*mu`ni*ca"tion\, n. [L. excommunicatio:
cf. F. excommunication.]
The act of communicating or ejecting; esp., an ecclesiastical
censure whereby the person against whom it is pronounced is,
for the time, cast out of the communication of the church;
exclusion from fellowship in things spiritual.
Note: excommunication is of two kinds, the lesser and the
      greater; the lesser excommunication is a separation or
      suspension from partaking of the Eucharist; the greater
      is an absolute execution of the offender from the
      church and all its rights and advantages, even from
      social intercourse with the faithful.